The Second Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art exhibition catalogue (APT2)

welcomed the more relaxed atmosphere and were eager to be the avant-garde in rebuilding a nation that had just come out of the horrifying experience of the Cultural Revolution. It was a romantically heroic time when artists were enthusiastically trying to reconstruct a new art for a new China. Many debates were generated and many schools were formed. Among the numerous discussions, individualism was an important element. To be individualistic and to be personal was part of the effort of building a new China. In fact, it is in the acknowledgment of individualism, which had been suppressed for a long time, that one finds new hope for China. When the new generation wake up from the nightmare, and look back into the painful journey which has exhausted our tears, blood and spirit, we cannot help but falling [sic] into deep contemplation, cannot help but rethinking [sic] the meaning of our own personal life .. . cannot help but claiming [sic] our right as an independent, individual existence, and cry out loud for the respect of individuality and individual expression. This thought represents the new thinking of an entirely new generation, and this new thinking, naturally is reflected in the arts. 1 To be able to talk about oneself, and to be individualistic in thought and expression, was regarded as a confirmation of the new freedom promised by the new China. The dream was shattered at Tienanmen Square in 1989. Ideals and visions were crushed. The romantic zeal was gone; instead, mockery and satire prevailed. Consumerism, intensified by the Government's political strategy to heal the wound through economic development, was received with a sense of wonder as well as disturbance. Political pop art, created by such artists as Huang Guang Yi and Feng Mengbo was typical in its mockery (and to a certain extent, bewilderment) of the marriage of communism and consumerism. Cynicism, irreverence and malaise became prominent ingredients in the work of many artists such as Fang Lijun, Liu Wei and Liu Xiaodong. It is important to note that these new trends, as natural products of capitalism and consumerism, existed before the Democratic Movement. The political suppression only intensified its development. This sense of impotency resulted in cynicism and a withdrawal into the personal world; artists focused on their mundane, everyday lives or personal sexual obsessions and fantasies. 2 Gone is the heroic and romantic zeal for new visions of art and for a new China. Art is about the minimum existence of being oneself.This sense of loss and self-indulgence was prominent in the large exhibition of 'China's New Art: Post 1989' exhibition held at the Hong Kong Arts Centre in 1992. 42 I cu RAT o RI A L E ss AY s • EA s T A s I A Recent developments take on an even more extreme character. Artist Zhang Wun suspended himself from the ceiling and let his blood drip on a frying pan for an hour. Even the jokes are over, the continuous sense of powerlessness leads one to seek existence in sadistic self-torture. The entire development follows a path from disillusion to cynicism to self-destruction. Sex, quite often a slightly disturbing type of sex, becomes a popular topic, as reflected in the recent works by Lin Wei and Li Shen. Art has turned painfully personal. Taiwan: From Community to Personal With the formalisation of diplomatic relations between China and the United States, and a relaxation of political control in Taiwan during the 1970s, a new movement emerged in Taiwan that attempted to redirect attention towards local culture and social reality. The 'nativist' movement led many artists to focus their attention on rural life in Taiwan, hoping to discover a distinctive Taiwanese character. It was an important period when artists could look into a particular local culture which had been, on the one hand, suppressed for decades, and on the other hand, overshadowed by the domination of Western culture. Photographers such as Chang Chao-tang and Yuan I-jong, for example, devoted much energy to capturing pictures of Taiwanese rural life; and the naive folk artist Hung Tung became one of the favourite artists of Taiwan. The new enthusiasm was the manifestation of a strong desire for the affirmation of a Taiwanese identity which had been repressed for a long time. As Taiwan moves towards democracy in the 1990s, a new confidence has developed in recent years. On the one hand, the emphasis on regional culture is being further developed through the funding strategy of the Taiwan Arts Development Council. Through funding, support is given to preserve and nurture the development of district culture. Along with that is a critical approach by individual artists to the chaotic and corrupted urban life of Taiwan, typified by artists such as Hon Chin-Ming and Huang Chin-Ho. On the other hand, democracy means pluralism. It means each individual can pursue what one wants. Artists select their own directions, making their own comments regarding their surroundings. Pluralism, both in artistic language and content, is celebrated as a symbol of democracy. When discussing the state of their art with the Taiwan artists and critics, they would always proudly declare that gone are the days of the 'nativist' movement. It is pluralism which symbolises the new Taiwan today. Interest has turned from the previous obsession with the 'native' to diversity and individual development. This diversity in style as well as in content was typified by the works presented in the 'Venice Biennale' in 1995. In the 1990s, Taiwan expresses its new political confidence in pluralism, in which individual will is the key element. Although critique on the social and political situation of Taiwan remains popular with many artists, the individual plays a central role in this dialogue, for democracy is built upon respect for individuals. Hong Kong: The Refugee and the Art On July 1, 1997 Hong Kong will return to China. For the Chinese Government, the return is certainly a joyous event which deserves much celebration. However, the Hong Kong people look at the event with mixed feelings. During an unusual period of anxiety and tension, one would expect that artists would make works that respond to the urgent and disturbing situation. The reality is, surprisingly, that very few political art works are produced. With the exception of cartoons or scattered individual events, Hong Kong artists seldom touch on politics.3 Following the tradition of the literati Chinese artists, art is a place where one seeks refuge from the troublesome world. In a way, such escapism is historically also a political statement. It is a silent protest declaring an unwillingness to participate in the existing power structure. Escaping to the mountains is probably the best and only way of protest. The assumption that great political art is created during politically turbulent times is a romantic fabrication. Artists make political art because there is a possibility, or at least an illusion of possibility, that through art, one can change the situation. The Hong Kong people are realistic. They have no illusions. There is another element affecting Hong Kong art. Hong Kong is a place where most of its citizens are refugees or children of refugees from China. The refugee culture does not nurture engagement with the land and its culture. Refugees run away from danger and will not confront a threat. A basic criterion for political art is that one is willing to stay and fight. Without that engagement, there is no ground for political art. While the traditional artists continue to make landscapes of mountains and mist, with people dressed in the costumes of the Ming dynasty, most of the local young artists continue to work on their very personal expression. Despite the urgent and disturbing social and political situation in Hong Kong, artist Chan Yuk Keung has decided not to make any (intentional) political references in his art. Instead he is seeking the poetic quality of intimate expression through the manipulation of symbolic possibilities of material and formalist arrangement.